Roadside Bomb Explodes, 2 Soldiers Killed

On the way to the school, the military patrol passed over a bomb planted into a water pipe

SONGKHLA – Two soldiers were killed and two others wounded Friday in a bombing attack in Thailand’s restive southern province of Pattani, Thai News Agency reported.

Pattani police and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit rushed to the scene Friday morning after receiving report that a military pickup truck was hit in the bombing in Pattani’s Yarang district.

Pattani police and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit rushed to the scene

Two soldiers were killed at the scene while two others were wounded and sent to hospital in Yarang district.

Police investigators said the soldiers were on their way to provide security protection for teachers and students at Ban Buenae Pinae School which was holding activities ahead of Thailand ‘s Children’s Day on Saturday.

On the way to the school, the military patrol passed over a bomb planted into a water pipe, with an electrical lead extending more than 100 metres into a rubber plantation to trigger the bomb.

The police blamed suspected separatists for the crime.

More than 5,000 people have been killed and more than 9,000 injured in over 11,000 incidents, about 3.5 incidents a day, in Thailand’s three southern border provinces — Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat — and four districts of Songkhla since violence erupted in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, which monitors the regional violence.